Although I watched this movie more than a year ago (upon heavy insistence), the embodiment of Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind cannot possibly be completely captured in a single watch. While revisiting this movie (and this blog but we don't talk about that) more than a year later, I understood so much that I possibly could not before. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a film that captures the grief of loss and the power of acceptance. It celebrates the transient nature of life through its thought-provoking depiction of human emotion and the horrors of coping with losing a loved one.
In the film, Joel and Clementine are lovers whose relationship eventually comes to a bitter end due to their differences. The plot of the movie starts to fall into place when Joel receives a cryptic message from a company called Lacuna, which informs Joel that Clementine has chosen to undergo a medical procedure that erases all memories of Joel from her mind permanently, as a result of which Joel is requested not to contact Clementine again. Consequently, unable to come to terms with the breakup Joel decides to undergo the same procedure, and erase all memories of Clementine from his mind as well. Joel approaches the clinic with this intention, for which he is asked to bring whatever he owns that he associates with his relationship with Clementine. While undergoing the procedure, he is forced to relive all his memories with Clementine, during which he realises he does not want to go through with the procedure as he cannot bear to have Clementine’s memories erased from his mind. This highlights the central dilemma of the film, hence compelling the viewer to contemplate whether it is truly meaningful to overcome the pain of loss by completely forgetting the love that once brought you such joy and gave your relationships meaning. Following this realisation, Joel and Clementine- in his memories- decide to hide Clementine away in different parts of Joel’s past- where the employees from Lacuna cannot find her. However, despite their best efforts to preserve Clementine in his memories, she is eventually wiped out completely, but not before telling him to “meet her at Montauk”. This connects us to the beginning of the movie wherein Joel has the unexplainable urge to skip work and take a train to Montauk- where he finds and connects with a woman named Clementine- both unaware that this is a reconnection of their lost love. This may be seen as symbolic of the transcendental nature of love that withstands the tides of logic and memory.
The two find themselves in a romantic relationship again and start to face the same problems as before. However, due to Mary- an employee of Lacuna- leaving the company and disclosing records and tapes of patients to each of them, the two become aware of their circumstances. Towards the end of the film, while they confront each other about the things said in the tapes disclosed by Mary, they both come to terms with the fact that their relationship had its flaws and neither of them is perfect for the other, however despite this, the film ends with the characters repeating the word “okay”. This is significant as it not only symbolises their acceptance of the relationship’s flaws, but also ends the movie on a hopeful note that despite everything and the lack of assurance that their love will last forever, they are willing to accept its temporary nature and choose to focus on cherishing the memories shared rather than making the relationship last.
This film spoke to me on a personal level because of its heavy yet witty portrayal of the pain of loss. Joel’s tireless efforts to somehow force Clementine to remain in his memories despite the risk of fracturing his past forever effectively capture the belief that it is better to have loved and lost rather than to have never loved at all. The realisation that he would rather have Clementine live on in his memories- despite the pain it may cause him- rather than forget her as a whole, stems from the fact that the very reason these memories are now painful is that they were once the source of his happiness. To erase the pain through the memories would consequently erase any memory of happiness experienced.
The film had a strong surrealist aspect to it further supported by distorted, dreamlike scenes- some of which were handheld shots (can you tell I had a hyperfixation and did a deepdive on the movie). Gondry uses a very dreamlike cinematic aesthetic that includes a lot of very vague and undefined shots, coupled with a chaotic style of camera-work that aptly captured the turmoil in the plot as well as Joel’s inner emotional turmoil as a result of his decisions. The film also progresses in multiple timelines, this mirrors the fragmented nature of Joel’s memories which leaves viewers enamored while attempting to put together the timeline of events taking place. There were many scenes in the film where voices faded into the background of Joel’s subconscious which allows the audience to experience the distortion of Joel’s memories with Joel himself. Gondry’s clever use of colours is seen throughout the film, most evidently through the colour of Clementine’s hair which keeps changing throughout the film- portraying different stages of both her relationship with Joel, as well as the characters’ changing inner emotional state. Even the choice of setting being Montauk points to a place of cold, emotional isolation stemming from the lonliness of memory. However, the plot’s contrast to this setting- with the characters trying to hide away from the memory erasure enables the viewers to hold on to a glimmer of hope in their desolate situation as portrayed by the setting itself. Overall, the cinematography in the film was perfectly executed without which the plot would have potentially been lost on the audience due to its complexity.
The title of the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind- is one that beautifully encapsulates the myth of eternal sunshine or eternal happiness. It treats memories as experiences or spots in a person’s mind- hence eternal sunshine only exists in a mind without memories. The value of these memories is only understood when their experience, whether painful or full of joy, teaches us to grow into better humans. In a way, the title critiques human nature and the desire to avoid pain at the cost of great sacrifice. The film teaches us we cannot possibly grow if not for our memories.
This film helped me- as I’m sure it did others- introspect on different losses in my life and empowered me to revel in the memories of those I loved and was lucky to be loved by rather than to forget and be forgotten. To conclude, The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a masterpiece that reminds us to be thankful for the pain caused by loss as it stands testament to a love we were once blessed to have experienced.
IF YOU'VE MADE IT THIS FAR THANK YOU SO MUCH AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! <33
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